Profoto RFi softbox

On the beginning of this month Profoto released a new line of softboxes. It was rather surprising to notice that Profoto's new set of sofboxes, speedring and grids are noticeably cheaper than previous versions and come with design improvements like color coded rods and selection of speedrings to attach the boxes to all major flash brands.

I have been planning to replace my cheap stripbox, and getting the brand new RFi stripbox with half of the price compared to their older line of boxes made the upgrade decision easy. Campaign offer where free Nikon/Canon speedring is given for buyer of RFi box+speedring made it even easier. Profoto is known from their robustly made lighting equipment and this kind of steep price reduction put me little bit cautious. Can the new RFi (name comes from recessed front, improved) boxes stand against their older brothers.





I compared the new 1x4' RFi stripbox against my older RF boxes and found out following differences.


Unboxing. Softbox comes with carry on storage bag. Fabric in the bag feels stronger than the old bags for RF boxes. Velcro in the one end of bag is used to open and close it. There are some empty space in the bag possibly fitting also the speedring inside it. Useful when gear needs to be moved between places and you can keep box + speedring in one bag.

 
Inside the bag you will find rods, fabric, diffusion panels and instruction paper. Difference in the RF boxes is that rods are already inserted in the box when you open the package. Photographers with tighter budget (like me), can live up with the fact that they need to personally insert the rods in RFi boxes (takes about 2 minutes) and save some $$$.


Rods are color coded from the end that connects to speedring.


New speedring. Color coded holes to help assembling the box. This is small but very useful improment. I have been struggling some times with old speedring when assembling octobox. Depending on the shape of box, rods needs to be inserted into specific holes. Color coding makes it lot more straightforward task to do. New speedring should also work with older Profoto boxes, except maybe stripboxes that was mentioned when I got the speedring. In addition of improving the design, new speedring is also cheaper than the previous Profoto speedring.



RFi softbox on the left and cheap softbox ordered from the internet on the right. Notice how the fabrics and Velcros are not fully matching and constantly tearing open in the cheap box.


Speedring adapter allows photographer to use RFi boxes with Canon & Nikon speedlights. It supports 360 degree rotation of box and comes with traditional hotshoe with tightening knob. Materials in the speedring feels sturdy and there is also possibility to move the flash horizontally in the speedring. One thing missing is tilt head. In order to angle the light, some additional piece needs to be put between the light stand and speedring adapter. I would advise to not use the plastic made flimsy umbrella holders as Speedring and big softbox can weight over 3kg.


Nikon SB-800 used with 1x4' RFi softbox. Even looking light distribution without the diffusion dome.



New boxes have rigid looking reinforced corner pockets for rods. Fabrics are mentioned to be hand sewn and heat resistant (up to 650 ws modeling light?) By quick comparison, fabrics in older RF boxes feels even sturdier but it is understandable to justify their higher price. Materials in RFi softbox feels good and should stand regular use.

Inner diffusion panel in RFi boxes is attached via Velcro. This is now changed to previous RF line of boxes that used the snap on attachment. I personally liked the snap on method attaching diffusion panel but Velcro should handle the same job.


One thing I miss from the new line of boxes is loop in the upper part of box. Like in picture above (from 3x4' RF softbox). That was useful with old boxes when they could be stored on the wall by hanging from the loop. Not sure if the loop was meant solely for that but it served really well the purpose. Handy photographers can sew loops to their RFi boxes.


Other new accesories are grids, stripmasks and flat front diffusers. They should be compatible with older softboxes with same sizes. I think the RFi line is good addition to the light shaping tools Profoto is providing for photographers. There are still the RF and HR (heat resistant) line of softboxes in selection that are made from thicker fabrics and give maximum protection against excessive heat.